COL 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



COL 



34S 



colour. From the wings of the leaves come out slender pe- 

 duncles, about two inches long, each sustaining two or three 

 yellow flowers, whose standard is reflexed and large, with a 

 dark-coloured mark on it. In England it flowers from June 

 to August. It is a uativeof the south of France, of Italy, and 

 the warmer parts of Switzerland, and Curniola. Mr. Ray 

 observed it about Montpellier, and in many parts of Italy, 

 especially on Mount Vesuvius, ' even in the ascent to the 

 crater itself, where there were scarcely any other plants. 

 The leaves are recommended as answering all the purposes 

 of Senna ; and Allioni has given particular directions for the 

 preparation of them, as a larger dose of them seems to be 

 required to produce the same effect. The seeds, in the 

 quantity of a drachm or two, occasion vomiting; but the plant 

 itself is said to afford grateful food for cattle. This, and the 

 second and third species, are very hardy shrubs, which thrive 

 extremely well in the open air, and are generally propagated 

 for sale in the nursery gardens. They are all propagated by 

 sowing their seeds any time in the spring, in a bed of com- 

 mon earth, keepingthem clear from weeds when they come 

 up, and transplanting them at theMichaelmasfollowing,either 

 into nursery rows, or into the places where they are intended 

 to remain ; for if they be suffered to grow too long in the seed- 

 bed, they are very subject to have downright roots, which 

 render them unfit for transplantation ; nor should they be suf- 

 fered to remain too long in the nursery before they are trans- 

 planted, for the same reason. The first sort growing to the 

 height of twelve or fifteen feet, is very proper to intermix with 

 trees of a middling growth in wilderness quarters,oi*in clumps 

 of flowering trees, where the singularity of their flowers and 

 pods will make a pretty variety ,especially as these trees usually 

 begin flowering by the end of May, and are seldom destitute 

 of flowers until September. Mr. Curtis has learned by expe- 

 rience, that a very wet soil proves fatal to the common Blad- 

 der-senna. The earwigs also, finding a commodious retreat 

 within the bladders, are very destructive to the seeds. Mr. 

 Miller therefore recommends the hanging lobster-claws, or 

 bowls of tobacco-pipes, on the shrubs, to entice the insects. 

 The third species does not grow so tall as the common, but 

 makes a more regular shrub, and is less liable to split : the 

 flowers of this sort being of a dusky red colour, spotted with 

 yellow, it makes a very pretty variety, and is as hardy as the 

 common sort, and may be propagated by seeds in the same 

 manner. It sends forth many suckers, by which it may also 

 be increased ; but the seeds are much to be preferred. 



C 2. Colutea Cruenta ; Oriental Bladder- Senna. Shrubby : 

 leaflets wedge-form, obcordate ; standard gibbous, obtuse, 

 very small. This has a woody stem, which sends out many 

 branches on every side, which does not rise above seven or 

 eight feet high. The leaves are composed of five or six pairs 

 of small heart-shaped leaflets, terminated by an odd one. 

 The flowers proceed from the side of the branches, standing 

 upon peduncles, each sustaining two or three flowers, of a 

 dark-red colour, marked with yellow ; which appear in June, 

 and the seeds ripen in autumn. Discovered by Tournefort 

 in the Levant. See the first species. 



3. Colutea Pocockii ; Pococke's Bladder-Senna. Shrubby : 

 leaflets ovate; standard gibbous, elongated, ascending. This 

 shrub seldom exceeds six or seven feet high in England. 

 The branches are very slender, and much more pliant than the 

 common sort ; the leaves are composed of nine pairs of leaf- 

 lets, and are much smaller. The flowers also appear a month 

 earlier, and are of a brighter yellow ; and as there is a suc- 

 cession of them till late in the autumn, and they are not so 

 liable to be destroyed by the strong winds in summer, the 

 value ofthisspeciesismuchincreased. Native of the Levant. 



Dr. Uussel, who resided many years at Aleppo, reports, that 

 this shrub is very common in the neighbourhood of that city. 

 See the first species. 



4. Colutea Frutescens ; Scarlet Bladder- Senna. Shrubby: 

 leaflets ovate-oblong. This is a hoary shrub, with tomen- 

 tose leaflets, smooth on the upper surface : height from two 

 to four feet: in favourable seasons and in a warm situation, 

 plants of three years' standing will be six feet high, with large 

 heads, and all the branches covered with flowers, making a 

 very fine appearance. Those plants, however, which are 

 exposed to the air, seldom last beyond two years, and are 

 generally destroyed in severe winters ; but they make much 

 stronger plants while they last, and produce a greater number 

 of flowers than those which are housed. The flowers appear 

 in June, are of a fine scarlet colour, intermixed with silvery 

 leaves, affording an agreeable variety. Native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. This is tender, and cannot endure the open air 

 in severe English winters. It is propagated by seed sown 

 early in the spring, upon a warm border of light earth. The 

 plants will flower in August, and ripen seeds very well in 

 favourable autumns ; but if the seeds be sown upon a mode- 

 rate hot-bed in the spring, the flowers will appear as early as 

 July, which gives them a fine opportunity of ripening their 

 seed during the hot weather. They must never be trans- 

 planted, except while young, for when'they are grown large 

 they will not bear removing. In a well-sheltered situation, 

 they will sometimes live in the open air for three or four years , 

 growing to have large heads, which mate a very fine appear- 

 ance when they are in flower, and the flowers of which also 

 continue much longer in beauty than those produced by 

 plants which have been more tenderly treated. 



5. Colutea Perennans ; Perennial Bladder-Senna. Herba- 

 ceous : leaflets ovate-oblong, pubescent. Root perennial ; 

 stems erect, round, striated, pale green, annual, quite simple, 

 or with almost barren branchlets ; flowers small, and without 

 scent ; corolla flesh-coloured. It flowers in August ; and is a 

 native of Africa. 



6. Colutea Herbacea ; Annual Bladder-Senna. Herba- 

 ceous : leaflets linear, smooth. Annual ; corollas dark blood- 

 red, with a striated standard, the length of the wings and 

 keel ; stem a foot and a half high, and slender, dividing at 

 top into three or four branches. Native of the Cape. It is 

 a low annual plant, which seldom grows more than a foot and 

 a half in height : the flowers are small, and having but little 

 beauty, it is seldom preserved but in botanic gardens. The 

 seeds of this sort must be sown upon a moderate hot-bed in 

 the spring, and the, plants put into small pots, and brought 

 forward in another hot-bed. They flower in July ; when they 

 may be exposed in the open air in a warm situation, where the 

 seeds will ripen in September, and the plants soon afterdecay . 



7. Colutea Fistulosa. Herbaceous : leaflets ovate, com- 

 plicate, pubescent underneath. Steins angular, striated, fis- 

 tulous, flowering the second year ; calix pubescent ; corolla 

 small, whitish or red, with blood-red streaks. This appears 

 to be only a variety of the fifth species. 



8. Colutea Americana. Shrubby : leaflets, ovate, emargi- 

 nate ; legumes oblong, compressed, acuminate. It has a 

 shrubby stalk, risingto the height of fourteen feet ; the leaves 

 are composed of three pairs of oval leaflets, terminated by an 

 odd one ; the flowers are of a bright yellow. Sent from 

 V'era Cruz by Dr. Houston. It will not bear the open air in 

 England ; but is propagated by seeds sown on a hot-bed in 

 the spring ; and when the plants are two inches high, they 

 should be each transplanted into a separate small pot filled 

 with light earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanner's bark, 

 observing to shade them till they have taken fresh root ; after 



